Ice dispensing attachment for beverage dispensing machine



Jan. 29, 1963 3,075,363

ICE DISPENSING ATTACHMENT FOR BEVERAGE DISPENSING MACHINE A. CONTO FiledDec. 16,

Iwcmon Aamuoo Co:

United States Patent 3,075,363 Patented Jan. 29, 1963 3,075,363 ICEDISPENSING ATTACHMENT FOR BEVERAGE DISPENSING MACHINE Armando F. Conto,Chicago, Ill., assignor to Freez-King Corporation, Chicago, 111., acorporation of Illinois Filed Dec. 16, 1960, Ser. No. 76,395 1 Claim.(Cl. 62157) This invention relates to an ice dispensing attachment or abeverage dispensing machine.

It is a common practice in many offices, factories, and other commercialinstitutions, to provide soft drink dispensing machines in which thebeverage is dispensed directly into a cup. Beverage dispensing machineshave been developed which include as a part thereof mechanism forautomatically dispensing ice into the cup at the time the latter isfilled. In such machines ice may be stored in a suitable container fromwhich a supply of ice is di-charged into the cup during each cycle ofoperation of the machine. While these ice storage containers areinsulated to prevent excessive melting of the ice stored therein, thereis always a certain amount of ice which does melt and some provisionmust be made for draining the water thus formed from the ice storagecontainer. This has been accomplished by a drain line connected toexisting plumbing within the building in which the machine is located.This necessitates that the machine be placed near existing plumbing or,alternatively, plumbing must be run from the nearest available drain tothe machine. Many locations in or outside of buildings which mightotherwise be convenient for the machine are not feasible because of thelack of a nearby drain.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an icedispensing attachment suitable for incorporation into existing beveragedispensing machines, the attachment being so constructed as to eliminatethe need to locate the machine near an existing drain or to construct adrain therefor in order to dissipate water from ice melted within theice-storage compartment within the attachment.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an attachmentof the type stated which is easy to install in many types of existingbeverage dispensing machines and also permits the machine to be locatedin a number of places which might otherwise be unfeasible.

It is another object of the present invention to provide attachment ofthe type stated which automatically dispenses ice into a cup during eachcycle of operation of the machine and, furthermore, wherein water fromthe storage chamber is discharged into a receptacle within the machineand evaporated therein at a rate at least as great as accumulation ofwater within the receptacle.

The attainment of the above and further objects of the present inventionwill be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing, forming a part thereof.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an ice dispensing attachmentconstructed in accordance with and embodying the present invention, andbeing mounted on a support within a beverage dispensing machine;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 2-2, FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are fragmentary sectional views taken along line 4-4 and5-5 respectively of FIG. 3.

Referring now in more detail and by reference numerals to the drawingwhich illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Adesignates an ice dispensing attachment comprising a base 1 which issecured by bolts 2 to a shelf or other support 3, the latter formingpart of a soft drink beverage dispensing machine. The beveragedispensing machine is not shown or described in detail because suchmachine may be any one of a number of coin-operated machines which,during each cycle of operation thereof, fills a cup with a measuredquantity of cold beverage. Suifice to say, however, that such a machineoften includes a beverage dispensing platform or station 4 upon which issupported a cup 5 during the cup filling operation.

Mounted on the base 1 is an ice chip maker 6 which may be, for example,of the type shown in U.S. Patent 2,066,431, or Australian Patent 220,263or my co-pending application Serial No. 76,394 filed contemporaneouslyherewith. Also mounted on the base 1 adjacent to the ice maker 6 is anice storage bin 7 having a sheet metal cylindrical side wall 8surrounded by heat insulation 9. The upper end of the side wall 8 has anopening for receiving a conduit 10 which connects with the ice maker 6and through which pieces of ice are delivered from the ice maker 6 tothe storage bin 7.

The storage bin 7 also has a bottom plate 11 which is spaced upwardlyfrom an underside layer 12 of insulation, and the bottom plate 11, atone side thereof, has a downwardly presented opening 13. In this opening13 is a small vertical duct 14 having an upper edge 15 located upwardlyof the bottom plate 11. The lowermost end of the duct 14 extendsdownwardly into an opening 16 in the layer 12 for communication with anice discharge chute 17. This ice discharge chute 17 extends downwardlythrough the beverage dispensing machine and, as shown in FIG. 1,terminates above the cup 5 when the latter is at the beverage dispensingstation 4. The bottom plate 11 also has a hole 18 for communication witha water discharge conduit 19 which extends downwardly and laterallythrough the heat insulation and opens up, outwardly of storage bin 7,into a receptacle 20. The receptacle 20 may be mounted upon the base 1or elsewhere, as may be convenient, within the beverage dispensingmachine. Adjacent to the receptacle 20 is an electrically operatedheating coil 21 which supplies heat to the receptacle 20 and forpurposes presently more fully appearing.

Mounted on the bottom plate 11 centrally thereof is a thrust bearing 22for journaling the lower end of the shaft 23 which extends upwardlythrough the storage bin 7 and through a hole 24 formed in a top cover 25for the storage bin. Mounted on this top cover 25 is an electric motor26 which drives the shaft 23. Rotatably mounted on the shaft 23 directlyadjacent to and upwardly from the thrust bearing 22 is an ice-collectingwheel 27 having a hub 28 with ratchet teeth on the up Wardly presentedside thereof. A ratchet collar 30 is keyed for axial sliding movementalong the shaft 23 but is rotatable therewith and is adapted forunidirectional driving connection with the ratchet teeth on the hub 28.A washer 31 is also mounted on the shaft 23 and is held against upwardaxial movement by a cross pin 32. A coil spring 33 surrounds the shaft23 and biases the ratchet collar 30 into engagement with the hub 28.

The ice-collecting wheel 27 also has a cylindrical rim 34- which isclosely spaced from the side wall 8 and joining the hub 28 and rim 34 isa plurality of radial ribs 35 for dividing the ice-collecting wheel 27into a plurality of volumetricaly equal chambers 36. As best seen inFIGS. 3 and 5 a wiper plate 37 is secured by the bolt and nut assemblies38 to the side wall 8 above the icecolectng wheel 28 and the opening 13.This plate 37 is sufiicient to cover the chamber 36 which is locatedthereunder. Furthermore, the he ght of the ice-collecting wheel 27 issuch as to be substantially the same as 3 the distance between thedownwardly presented surface of the plate 37 and the upper edge 15 ofthe duct 14.

Rigidly mounted on shaft 23 just above the top cover 25' is a cam 39having a plurality of cam lobes 40, one corresponding to each of thechambers 36. A solensid operated switch 41 is also mounted on the topcover 25 and includes an actuating lever 42 for opening and closing theswitch, thereby permitling electrical energy to be delivered from asource 43 to the motor 26. The actuating lever 42 is rockable on a pivot44 and biased into engagement with the cam 39 by a spring 45, wherebythe lever 42 operates as a follower for the cam 39. The solenoid withinthe switch is supplied current from the source 43 through a switch 46,the latter being part at or operatable in conjunction with aconventional coincontrolled switch found on many beverage dispensingmachines.

In operation, the ice chip maker 6 delivers chipped ice through theconduit to the storage bin 7. This chipped ice will build up from thebottom plate ill and the wiper plate 37. When the coin-controlled switch46 is actuated the solenoid within the switch 41 is energized and theswitch 41 is closed, thereby permitting current to be supplied to themotor 26 which in turn rotates the shaft 23 counter-clockwise (FIG. 2).As the motor 26 begins to-rotate, the conventional cup-feeding mechanismwithin the beverage machine drops a cup 5 to the beverage dispensingstation 4 whereby the cup is positioned under the open end of the icedischarge chute 17. Chipped ice will fill all of the chambers 36 exceptthat one which is directly underneath the plate 37. As the shaft 23rotates the next adjacent chamber, designated as 36a, will move underthe plate 37 carrying with it chipped ice. The plate 37 and the upperedge of the duct 14 level oif the ice within the chamber 36a so thatwhen the latter overlies the opening 16 a measured quantity of icesubstantially equal to the volume of the chamber 36a will dropdownwardly through the opening 16 into the duct 14 and through thedischarge chute 17 into the cup 5. During the rotation of the shaft 23the coin-controlled switch 46 will automatically be opened in responseto the passage of the coin through the machine, but since by that timethe lever 42 will be riding up upon the adjacent cam lobe 40, the switch41 will be held closed, permitting a continuous flow of current to themotor 26. When the lever 42 reaches the next low point on the cam, thatis, between two lobes 40, the switch 41 will be opened to d e-energizethe motor and stop the rotation of the shaft 23. Since the foregoing isrepeated for each time a coin is deposited in the machine, it isapparent that for each cycle of operation of the beverage dispensingmachine, a measured quantity of ice may be delivered to the cup 5.

In connection with the present invention it should also be noted thatthe shaft 23 and the side Wall 8 may have bafiies 47, 48 mounted thereonto insure that the chipped ice builds up from the bottom of the bin 7 ina level column and does not tend to pack in one region within thestorage bin 7. I

Notwithstanding the presence of the heat insulation 9, 12, a certainamount of the chipped ice within the storage bin 7 will melt and draindownwardly through the ice collecting wheel 27 to the bottom plate 11and into the water discharge conduit 19 where it is carried to thereceptacle 20. In order to dissipate the water in the receptacie 2t)sufficient energy is supplied to the heating coil 21 to heat thereceptacle and evaporate the water therein. The amount of electricalenergy supplied to the coil 21 can be adjusted so that suflicient heatis supplied to the receptacle 20 to evaporate the water at a rate atleast as great as the accumulation of water within the receptacle Zii.

In compliance with the requirements of the patent "statutes I haveherein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention. Itis, however, to be understood that the invention is not limited to theprecise conntruction herein shown, the same being merely illustra 'tiveof the principles of the invention. What is considered now and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

In a beverage dispensing machine having a support and .a beveragedispensing station; an ice discharge chute terminating at its lower endat the beverage dispensing station, an ice dispensing attachment mountedon said support, said ice dispensing attachment having a storage bin,means for making chipped ice and delivering same to the storage bin,said storage bin having an opening in communication with said chute andthrough which chipped ice is delivered from the storage bin to thebeverage dispensing station, means operable within the storage bin fordelivering a predetermined quantity of the chipped ice to said openingfor discharge into said chute, said :means including a rotatable shaftin the storage bin extending upwardly through the upper end of thestorage bin and being journalled at its lower end in the storage bin, awheel mounted on the shaft, said wheel having a pluraliy ofvolumetrically equal chambers for successively collecting a measuredquantity of ice, motor means in driving connection with the part of theshaft above the upper end of the storage bin for driving said shaft afraction of a revolution during each cycle to position one of saidchambers over the opening for each cycle, and

cam-controlled switch means operable automatically in response to eachcycle of the machine for energizing the motor for the predeterminedperiod of time required to drive the shaft said fraction of arevolution, a receptacle below the storage bin, 21 water dischargeconduit in communication with the storage bin for draining water fromthe storage bin and delivering it to the receptacle, and healing meansindependent of the ice making means adjacent to the receptacle andsupplying sufiicient heat thereto for evaporating the water in thereceptacle at a rate at least as great as the rate of accumulation ofwater in the receptacle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,639,370 Flegel Aug. 16, 1927 7 1,980,571 Brach Nov. 13, 1934 2,237,189McCormick Apr. 1, 1941 2,709,343 Mufi'ly May 31, 1955 2,724,949 KattisNov. 29, 1955 2,779,165 Pichler Jan. 29, 1957 2,969,650 Eschenburg Jan.30, 1961

